Issue 5 / Winter 2014 By staff. About staff. For staff.

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CONTENT4

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12A week in the life ofRichard Knowles

Goodbye Dr Shah

Virtual walk challenge

MediWales award

Mis Ionawr

Stoptober success

Ironman fundraiser

Santa’s helpers

Santa at PCH

NHS Wales awards

Stella returns to Prince Charles Hospital

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What you didn’t know about pathology

EDITOR’S LETTER

Paul EdmondsAssistant editor and designer

There’s a couple of well-known sayings about pictures. The first is that a picture paints a thousand words. The second is that there’s a story behind every picture. In the case of

our front page of this new year edition of The Courier both are true.

Each and every picture which makes up the collage tells the story of 2013 - they speak of the every day routine of normal life in the NHS but they also capture the special mo-ments to be savoured and to be treasured. And finally they recount those rare minutes of light-hearted relief in a hectic schedule, like those to be found at the end of a long sum-mer day opposite A Fish Called Rhondda in Treorchy ...

Welcome to the first edition of The Courier in 2014, which - as always - is another bumper e-magazine of features and news about you, the staff of Cwm Taf. We’ve dedicated some of the pages to take a look back at what’s been happening over the last month or so but we’re also looking forward at what’s to come.

Our Welsh-language article this time is about mis Ionawr (January) and we have a timely reminder that it’s not too late to enter the NHS Wales Awards - the closing date is January 24. We have all the news from the set of the latest series of the award-winning Sky One comedy drama Stella, which was filmed on location at Prince Charles Hospital and some startling facts fresh from pathology.

The Courier is your magazine. If you want to be in it or if you have any ideas for future edi-tions, we’d love to hear them.

Madeleine Madeleine Brindley, Editor

WANT TO BE IN THE NEXT

EDITION? CLICK HERE

My name is Richard Knowles, housekeeping manager/advisor for Cwm Taf University Health Board. I work daily with support from Lisa Rogers, the housekeeping manager at Royal Glamorgan Hospital and Melanie Smith at Ysbyty Cwm Cynon covering all the community hospitals and health centres with the help of the team leaders Colin Wintle, Jayne Williams and Vivien Cartwright. I also liaise with Sue Zobole for community south health centres.

From a management perspective, I work closely with Kevin Davies, portering manager and Stephen Barnard, catering manager and our line manager

Russell Hoare.

I studied hotel and catering management at University College of

Salford and previously worked at Trafford

General Hospital, the Copthorne

Hotel, Miskin Manor, Hilton

Newport and

Churchill Hotel

before starting at Prince Charles Hospital in 2005.

I have seven domestic supervisors at Prince Charles Hospital who support me and deal with daily issues on site, which include audits to meet the national standards for cleaning in NHS Wales; the Free to Lead Free to Care initiative and I work closely with ward managers.

Monday I catch up with domestic supervisors to see what’s happened over the weekend and, where required, I see staff members and the nurse-in-charge. I’ll look to see if there have been any incidents via the datix reporting system and carry out an investigation if necessary. Melanie and I, together with Nicola Robinson, the HR officer and Alan Lidbury, the Unison representative, hold a staff meeting at Dewi Sant Hospital. We’re consulting on new rosters, providing feedback forms for one-to-ones with housekeeping staff as we move forward with meeting the European Working Time Directive. We’re also ensuring work specifications meet the needs of the cleaning service we provide as we move forward.

A week in the life of ...

Better services for patients with chronic pain

NEW guidelines are being in-troduced in Cwm Taf University Health Board to improve services for patients suffering from chron-ic non-malignant pain.A group led by specialist pain cli-nicians and the pharmacy’s pain lead has been set up to develop the new guidelines which will ensure patients are getting con-sistent and effective treatment.The work has recently been rec-ognised by the Royal Pharmaceu-tical Society, which awarded the group the Award for Innovations in Healthcare at the national RPS conference in Birmingham.Gareth Tyrrell the Aseptic Service and Clinical Lead Pharmacist for Surgery said: “An increasing number of patients are seeking help for chronic pain - it’s not always easy for them to get the help they need and it can place pressure on the NHS.“Our aim has been to develop new, more accurate ways of assessing and treating types of chronic non-malignant pain and provide guidance about when patients should be referred to the chronic pain service.“This will allow patients in both primary care and hospital ser-vices to be referred to the most appropriate specialists for their needs.“This should ultimately mean they are treated more effectively and quickly within Cwm Taf”.

For further information regard-ing the management of chronic non-malignant pain contact Hel-en Williams, Senior Clinical Nurse Specialist on 01443 443469 or e-mail Helen.williams30fabb@wales.nhs.uk

page 5

Tuesday I’m at Royal Glamorgan with a staff member, union rep and our HR workforce support - Patrick Riley – to try to resolve a staffing issue, then, in my role as secretary of the Welsh Association of Health Care Professionals (AHCP), I’m off with Lisa to Neath Port Talbot Hospital for the quarterly meeting. The association is a link for the four UK health services to work together and provide consistency, training and support for each other. It’s then back to Prince Charles Hospital for a senior managers’ meeting in the afternoon with Russell, Steve and Kevin.

Wednesday Royal Glamorgan Hospital for a meeting to discuss and review a new plan for recruiting volunteers to help train student doctors, including accommodation, transport and GP surgeries. Later, Lisa and I hold a staff meeting with all housekeeping staff to discuss our agenda for the quarter and as part of our standardisation the same format is used for all sites.

Next up is another meeting to discuss standardisation of cleaning disinfectants involving health and safety, infection control, procurement services and pharmacy and then it’s up to Ysbyty George Thomas to join Melanie and team leaders for the site housekeeping meeting and back to Royal Glamorgan for the afternoon housekeeping meeting.

From the day’s meetings we collate information from each site to resolve issues discussed

and ready to feedback via supervisors as soon as possible or at the next meeting.

Thursday I carry out managerial cleanliness audits of four wards at Prince Charles Hospital with the relevant ward manager, domestic supervisor and estates representative. I carry out these audits every month and I’m reviewing nursing, housekeeping and estates issues – the purpose is to feedback and develop action plans for wards, estates and domestic staff to complete and update. Domestic and hotel service supervisors carry out audits every week across all sites; the managerial audits ensure standards are achieved. In the afternoon, I join Melanie at Keir Hardie Health Park and have meetings to discuss any concerns about the site.

Friday Part of my responsibilities include staff accommodation at Prince Charles Hospital and every six months I carry out landlord checks on the property to ensure flats are being maintained by both the organisation and tenant; review fire safety and complete an action plan. We have 98 flats providing a mix of single and married accommodation.

ABERFAN will say a fond farewell to their GP of 30 years when Dr Pankaj S Shah of Pantglas Sur-gery retires on New Year’s Eve.

A farewell buffet was held at the surgery on December 19 when patients and staff had the oppor-tunity to say goodbye to their doctor and thank him for his service and commitment to the community over the last three decades.

Dr Shah (pictured, left) arrived in South Wales from the Midlands in 1981 where he began his GP training in New Tredegar, Gwent.

In 1982, he joined the Nixon House practice in Merthyr Vale staying there for two years before leaving in 1984 to look for new premises for himself.  He found premises at Aberfan Com-munity Centre, where he set up Pantglas Surgery on his own. 

Dr Chillal joined Dr Shah for a few years but left in 1989 and

Dr Shah returned to running the practice single-handedly and was always on call for his 1,200 patients which, by any definition is no mean feat.

In 1989, an extension to the building enabled additional rooms to be built which were used by the practice nurses and Dr Shah’s wife Smita who set up well woman and family planning clinics.Dr Shah’s two sons have followed

in his footsteps - Maulik is a GP in Swansea and Hemal works in London.

As we all know, behind every GP is an avid receptionist and Cathy Thomas and Margaret Guppy are no exception to that rule. Cathy has worked at the practice for 13 years and Margaret for nine years and both have enjoyed the role immensely. Janett Bickley was the practice manager from 1988 to 2001 and

From left to right: Maureen Hughes, patient, Jayne Grifiths (former practice nurse), Margaret James, practice nurse,Dr Shah, Cathy Thomas, Janett Bickley and patient Marjorie England. In front, Sheila Lewis, patient.

page 6

Patients say thank you to Aberfan GP and longstanding member of the community

she joined staff and patients to say farewell to Dr Shah.

Cathy Thomas and Janett Bickley pictured outside the surgery.Maureen Hughes, a patient at the practice since the mid-1980s, said: “Dr Shah will be missed in this community.He was always very accessible to his patients. He’s a quiet gentleman who knows his job.

“My mother and great aunt were patients in the practice and my son is also a patient.”

During the buffet, Dr Shah was presented with a framed illustra-

tion of Pantglas Surgery by Mrs Hughes (pictured).

Dr Shah said: “My patients live in a very close community and have been very supportive of me.

“Staff at the practice are very car-ing and eager to help patients.

“I have enjoyed working here and have many good memories. Time has gone very quickly and I have made a lot of friends.”

Following retirement, Dr Shah now plans to do locum work and to play more golf to improve his handicap.

Dr Chris Jones, chair of Cwm Taf University Health Board said: “Dr Shah served the Aberfan com-munity through thick and thin. Countless people will have ben-efitted from his gentle support and professional kindness.

“The health board wishes Dr Shah and his family a healthy and happy retirement.”

From January 1, 2014, the Pant-glas surgery will be merged with Brookside surgery in Troedyrhiw but patients will still be seen in Aberfan for the foreseeable future.

page 7

PRINCE Charles Hospital will take centre stage when the award-winning comedy dra-ma Stella returns to television screens later this month.

Many of the scenes in the pop-ular Sky One show, co-written by and starring Ruth Jones who received an MBE in the New Year’s Honours, were filmed in the Merthyr Tydfil hospital.

The Stella crew and actors took over an empty ward, which was awaiting refurbishment, at Prince Charles Hospital during the summer to film scenes for the third series of the show.

David Peet, series producer said: “Stella is made by the Welsh TV production company Tidy Pro-ductions. It’s a huge hit show for Sky and without the brilliant, warm embrace of the South

Ruth Jones(Stella) far right on set with fellow members of the cast

Wales valleys it just would not have been possible. We’re end-lessly grateful to these communi-ties for their support and co-op-eration.

“The third series takes the much loved Stella character in a new direction as a trainee nurse. Early last year I was concerned that we would not find the right loca-tions to make this key storyline work on screen. I need not have worried. We had the great good fortune that an area of Prince Charles Hospital was awaiting refurbishment and the hospital had the vision to see how this could work for Tidy Productions and the NHS.

“They were superb from start to finish and made what could have been a highly complex operation, effortless and fun. This translates directly to the screen

Prince Charles Hospital to star in third series of award-winning comedy Stella

and I would like to thank every-one there for their hard work, kindness and very high stan-dards. From the first moment of the first episode the hospital is a big part of series 3. Thank you”.

Josh Dynevor, who was shoot producer of the third series of Stella, said: “Over the course of the summer a few members of staff from Cwm Taf University Health Board came to watch the series being filmed.

“They were great to meet, help-ful, friendly and accommodating. The scenes we shot at the hos-pital were some of the funniest in the series and I always looked forward to our visits as I knew we would always be made welcome.

“A film unit is a large beast and staff and patients were so help-ful to us and our filming always went well. From our point of view, we never came across any problems”.

INNOVATIVE passports which help stroke patients track their treatment and recovery have been awarded a prestigious award.

THE speech and language de-partment at Cwm Taf University Health Board is celebrating suc-cess after winning the MediWales NHS Awards 2013.

The Life after Stroke team won the Judges’ Award for the NHS for the stroke patient passport which was presented to Dr Kathryn Head, the health board’s clinical lead and speech and language therapist for stroke at a ceremony on December 10 at Cardiff’s National Museum.

The award recognizes the inno-vative work undertaken to pro-duce a unique set of passports to help guide patients and their families through stroke care and rehabilitation.

The interactive documents are designed to prevent patients feeling lost or abandoned by NHS and voluntary services, es-pecially after they are discharged from hospital.

The passports, which were de-veloped by speech and language therapists with the help of stroke patients and their families, cover the early (hospital) treatment of a stroke, rehabilitation and life after a stroke.

Maintained and owned by the patient, the three passports help the individual retain control of their care during their recovery from a stroke.

They are now being piloted on a small number of patients from across the health board, follow-ing successful focus group work.On receiving the award Dr Head said: “The stroke patient pass-port is unique in being a tool that follows the patient through-out the stroke pathway and it has been developed to be accessible to individuals with communica-tion difficulties.

“The award recognises the dedi-cation and collaborative work of the speech and language thera-pists, the multiagency team and stroke survivors.

“The passport puts patients back in control of their recovery and so far, has been very much welcomed as a tool that facili-tates communication and en-gagement in the stroke recovery process.”

Feedback from stroke patients across Wales indicated that when they left hospital they felt as though they fell through a black hole; that they felt abandoned; there was no support for carers

and that services weren’t joined up.

Dr Head said: “As part of the Welsh Government’s Life after Stroke initiative, the health board saw we thought this was an op-portunity to develop a resource for patients that covers the whole of their stroke journey, not just life after a stroke.”

Kathy McLernon, a specialist speech and language thera-pist for acute stroke at Cwm Taf University Health Board, who designed the passports, said: “We had really good feedback from the focus group – one person said they wished they’d had this when they’d had their stroke. They said they’d have found things easier and would have known what to ask for.

“We’ve found that often things are just done to stroke patient because they weren’t aware what to ask for but these passports will help.”

The passports have been suc-cessfully piloted in Cwm Taf Uni-versity Health Board and Dr Head hopes, with further collaboration and funding, they can be rolled out across Wales.

Success for Cwm Taf University Health Board atMediWales Innovations 2013 Award Ceremony

Erbyn hyn mae’r twrci ond yn atgof, mae rhai o’r anrhegion a dderbyniwyd oddi wrth y teulu a ffrindiau wedi mynd yn ôl i’r siopau, “Anaddas!”; “Rhy fawr” (If only); “Rhy fach”. Yr hyn sydd o’n blaenau ddechrau blwyddyn newydd yw biliau’r Nadolig, tywydd garw, SAD, nosweithiau tywyll er y byddai ‘Nhad-cu, oedd yn optimist bob amser, yn dweud bod pob dydd yn ymestyn ‘cam ceiliog’ ym mis Ionawr. Cam dino-sor sydd ei angen.

Ydy’r addunedau blwyddyn newydd wedi mynd ar ddifan-coll hefyd? Beth am y ddeiet / ymweliadau cyson â’r gampfa / dysgu iaith newydd? Petaem ni’n gwneud ein haddunedau adeg tywydd braf Mehefin neu Orffennaf byddai mwy o obaith i ni gadw atyn nhw, efallai.

Mae nifer o bethau pwysig wedi digwydd ym myd iechyd, ym mis Ionawr, dros y canrifoedd:

• 4 Ionawr 1885 – Y llawdrin-iaeth lwyddiannus gyntaf ar y pendics yn Iowa gan Dr Williams West Grant

• 11 Ionawr 1922 – Inswlin yn cael ei ddefnyddio’n llwyddi-annus am y tro cyntaf wrth drin diabetes

• 30 Ionawr 1961 – Y bilsen atal cenhedlu yn mynd ar werth ond heb fod ar gael ar y GIG

• 31 Ionawr 1747 – Y clinig cyn-taf i drin heintiau gwenerol yn agor yn Llundain

Er nad yw e unrhywbeth i wneud â’r GIG wrth chwilmentan dysgais fod loteri swyddogol, ar gael yn Lloegr ar Ionawr 11 1569 a bod y tocynnau ar werth wrth ddrws gorllewinol Eglwys Gadeiriol Sant Paul, Llundain. Tybed beth oedd y wobr fwyaf enillwyd? Oedd pobl yn dweud na fydden nhw’n rhoi’r gorau i’w swyddi, na fydden nhw’n symud, na fyddai’r

arian yn eu newid. Oedden nhw’n cael “rollovers”? Efallai nad oedden nhw’n cael arian ond ani-fail o bosibl!

Mae Blwyddyn Newydd y Tseiniaid ar Ionawr 31 2014 a’r flwyddyn eleni yw Blwyddyn y Ceffyl, mae pobl sy’n cael eu geni o dan arwydd y ceffyl yn ‘annibynnol’, ‘hyderus’. Byddai’n well gen i ddweud mod i wedi fy ngeni ym Mlwyddyn y Ceffyl yn hytrach na ……. blwyddyn y gwningen …….. er bod gan y gwningen ei rhinweddau …...Ym …… Ym……..

I gloi, os bydd un o’ch addu-nedau’n ymwneud â dysgu’r Gymraeg, prosiectau’n cynnwys Cymraeg, cofnodi eich sgiliau Cymraeg, cymryd rhan yng Ng-wobrau’r Gymraeg mewn Iechyd, Gwasanaethau Cymdeithasol a Gofal Cymdeithasol 2014 cysyllt-wch ag Uned Gymraeg Cwm Taf.

Blwyddyn Newydd Dda.

page 10

MIS

2014IONAWR

success for John

GIVING up was something John Waldron never thought about until he caught his 15-year-old son Cory smoking. 

The 34-year-old who works in the ICT department had smoked 20 cigarettes a day for more than 18 years. But earlier this year John found cigarettes on his 15 year old son and was devastated. He couldn’t believe that his son had picked up his bad habit and started smoking.

In a hope that his son would agree, John offered him a challenge: “If you promise to give up smoking I’ll give up as well.” His son agreed. Knowing it would be an extremely difficult challenge for him as well as his

son, John willing to try anything to stop him smoking before he was well and truly hooked.

John saw the Stoptober campaign at work and thought it was an ideal opportunity to get help and support. So, on October 4, after getting advice from the health and wellbeing team and receiving the Stoptober packs for support, he started his challenge. 

Eight weeks on and John is well on the road to success and more to his delight his son has also stopped smoking. John, who has two children, said: “I feel much healthier since giving up smoking. Food is much more tasty and the home environment is much healthier for me and

my family.  I also have an eight-year-old daughter hopefully with me not smoking around her she won’t pick up the habit when she’s older.

“I’ve had excellent support from my wife and family so that’s helped me along the way. However, I still find it very difficult when I’m out socially. But I’m looking forward to a healthier future with my family and also more money in my pocket as it’s much cheaper chewing gum than smoking.”

If you would like support to give up smoking contact www.stopsmokingwales.com

THE gruelling Iron Man Wales contest has helped a father and son team raise more than £17,500 for Prince Charles Hospital.

The exhausting event – a 2.4 mile sea swim, a marathon and a 112-mile bike ride – is the latest fundraiser Steven and Anthony have organised and undertaken to support the haematology department.

They have raised a staggering £17,500 over the last six years – the Iron Man Wales event in Tenby earlier this year added £1,100 to their total.

Anthony’s father Steven was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2007 and has been through a long period of treatment at Prince Charles Hospital and the University Hospital of Wales, in Cardiff.

This has been a very difficult time for Steven and his family but it has been made bearable by the professional and caring way in which they have been treated at both hospitals.

Steven said: “I can’t thank the nurses enough at Prince Charles Hospital as well as the consultant haematologist Dr Bashi. The support and reassurance has been amazing.

“Part of my treatment was to have a bone marrow transplant which I had in 2012. This treatment was one of the worst I had to endure. I had this at the University Hospital of Wales but again the staff were fantastic and I can’t praise them all enough.”

As a way of giving a little back, Steven and Anthony, came up with a series of fundraising events and over the last six years with the help of friends and family and staff in the department at Prince Charles Hospital, have raised £17,500. The first £250 of every event has been generously sponsored by Sekisui Alveo.

Anthony found the Tenby Ironman the most gruelling of all the fundraising events. He finished the event – a 2.4-mile swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride and 26-mile marathon – in 13 hours and 42 minutes.

Anthony, who lives in Merthyr Tydfil, said: “I was completely exhausted but the motivation to carry on came from the fact that I wanted to continue raising money for the haematology department.

“The staff and consultant’s quality of care and support is excellent and of the highest quality and has had such a positive effect on my dad which in turn has reassured the family.”

Dr Waleed Bashi, consultant haematologist at Cwm Taf Health Board, said: “I am so humbled by the fact that Steven and his son Anthony keep raising funds for the department, we are extremely grateful to them.

“The department, staff and more importantly the patients, have benefited from the funds they have raised.”

IRONMAN

page 12

RAISES THE BAR TO £17,500

CHILDREN living in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf will enjoy a merry Christmas this year after staff at Cwm Taf Health Board donated more than £1,300 to buy presents for them as part of the annual Santa Appeal.Gifts have been bought for 52 toddlers, children and teenagers living in the two local authority areas with the donations from people working in departments across the health board.

The presents include baby’s clothes, interactive toys, dolls, gift cards for older teens and chocolates.

A Santa Appeal is held every year by Merthyr Tydfil and Rhondda Cynon Taf councils to make sure that no child misses out on Christmas. People are asked to contact a hotline and are given the name and age of a child they can buy a present for.Darrell Clarke, (pictured) head of

children and young people service redesign at Cwm Taf Health Board, who helped to organise the donations, said: “When we heard about the Santa Appeal we wanted to get involved and support our local communities.

“This is the time of the year for giving and we’re really pleased to be able to give something to children who may otherwise not have had anything this Christmas.”

Gwenan Roberts, head of organisational development at Cwm Taf Health Board, who also coordinated the appeal, added: “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response and donations we’ve had from staff

across the health board – pledges came flooding in from the moment we started collecting for the Santa Appeal.

“We’ve been able to buy gifts for so many children thanks to the generosity of staff working for the health board.”

Councillor Brent Carter, cabinet member for community services at Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, said: “Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council children’s services runs a Santa Appeal each year to provide gifts for some of the most vulnerable children and young people the council supports.  “The council very much appreciates the contribution staff in Cwm Taf Health Board have made to the appeal this year.”

And Councillor Annette Davies, Rhondda Cynon Taf’s cabinet member for children’s social services, said: “Thank you to staff at Cwm Taf Health Board and indeed to everyone who has contributed to the Santa Appeal this year.

“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of local people and businesses who support the annual appeal, buying gifts

to ensure no child misses out on Christmas.”

Santa’s little helpers at Cwm Taf Health Board

community champion at Tesco’s neighbouring Aberdare store said: “It is so satisfying to know that the community benefits from the service we provide. I love my job – it’s so rewarding.”

And Ceri, community champion for the Merthyr store, added: “When I received Natalie’s letter I was only too pleased to speak to Diane to make a joint donation from both stores. I agree with Diane, the role is so rewarding.

“The community benefits from Tesco donations all year round, not just Christmas.”

Pictured from left to right are:

A LETTER to supermarket giant Tesco has paid dividends for the youngest patients at Prince Charles Hospital’s Emergency Care Centre.

Thanks to Natalie Swales, a pae-diatric nurse in the department, children who have suffered an injury or accident now have £200 of new toys to play with when they come into hospital.

It was Natalie’s idea to write to Tesco to ask if the supermarket would be kind enough to do-nate toys to the emergency care centre because its current stock had been so well used they were starting to look a little worn.

To Natalie’s surprise, a call from Ceri Randell, community champion for the Merthyr Tydfil store confirmed Tesco would be delight-ed to donate toys to the centre - just in time for Christmas. Diane Wood,

Santa comes early to the Emergency Care Centre at Prince Charles Hospital

Diane Wood, community cham-pion (Aberdare), Ceri Thomas, paediatric nurse, Natalie Swales, paediatric nurse and Ceri Ran-dell, community champion (Mer-thyr Tydfil).

A signed Ospreys rugby ball was also donated by Tesco, which the staff at the emergency care centre will raffle at their Christ-mas party.

The staff at the emergency care centre joined Santa and his elves on December 19 in his grotto in the foyer of Prince Charles Hos-pital to sell cakes to raise funds for the centre.

The NHS Wales Awards for 2014 is now open. This is a fantastic opportunity for us to celebrate the excellent work that is be-ing carried out throughout the Health Board and making a difference to patient care.

Have you been taking forward innovative work that’s making a real difference to patients and the way care is delivered? Have you and your team completed Improving Quality Together silver projects that have improved standards and quality of ser-vices?

Now is the time to tell others about it by entering the 2014 NHS Wales Awards!

The Awards are a great oppor-tunity to celebrate work that is delivering excellence in patient care.

It’s easy to enter and there are eight categories so lots to choose from:

Citizens at the centre of service re-design and delivery – work that involves patients and the public in the planning and delivery of services (supported by Wales Council for Voluntary Action)

Developing a flexible and sus-tainable workforce – models that

show how the workforce has been developed to meet specific needs such as supporting care in the community (supported by Royal College of Nursing Wales)Improving patient safety – initia-tives that prevent or reduce harm to patients (supported by Health Foundation)

Improving quality through better use of resources –achieving higher quality services by using resources in a more effective way including money, buildings, equipment and people (support-ed by Finance Academy Wales)

Promoting better health and avoiding disease – clear strate-gies that have improved health and wellbeing of patients (sup-ported by Welsh NHS Confeder-ation)

Promoting clinical research and application to practice –combin-ing academic expertise with clin-ical practice to improve services (supported by British Medical Association Cymru Wales)

Students improving patient safe-ty and quality - initiatives deliv-ered by students that helped re-duce or prevent harm to patients and improve standards of care (supported by 1000 Lives Stu-dent and Educator Community)

Working seamlessly across or-

ganisations – partnership work-ing that has improved patient care (supported by Welsh Local Government Association)

For the first time there will also be an Outstanding Innovation in Care Award presented to the overall winner in the eight categories (supported by Royal Pharmaceutical Society Wales).

Winning is great!Darrell Clarke, Head of Children and Young Peoples’ Service Re-Design, whose team won the Citizens at the Centre of Service Re-design and Delivery category in 2012, said winning the Award had been a boost for staff.  He said, “Winning an NHS Wales Award is a fantastic way to cel-ebrate best practice and  share innovative work that is making a difference to patient care with our colleagues across Wales. “I would urge healthcare teams to take the time to enter and who knows it may be you winning in 2014.”

1. Visit www.nhswalesawards.org.uk2. Read the guidance on entering3. Choose the category which is right for your work4. Download the storyboard template form and complete it5. Submit your entry before the closing date Friday January 24, 2014

NHS Wales Awards 2014

Should you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact Karen Field, NHS Wales Awards Manager on (01443) 233347 or email karen.field@wales.nhs.uk

5SIMPLESTEPS

VIRTUAL START

VIRTUAL FINISH

Teresa Richard’s and her col-league Steve Coleman from the workforce and organisational information team are in the process of walking the length of Great Britain and are now chal-lenging others to follow in their footsteps.

Wearing a pedometer to keep track of their steps, they are counting their steps at the end of each day and mapping them out on the journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

What started off as a way of keeping track of their daily activ-ity soon become healthy compe-tition and a race to the finish.

Teresa Richards from the depart-ment said: “We look forward to plotting out our steps every day on the map and see who has walked the furthest. It was loads of fun and the best part about it we are keeping fit and healthy at the same time.”

Teresa asked Steve how he felt the virtual challenge was going he said: “The challenge is lots of fun and the fact that I am getting fitter and healthier is a bonus.”

The journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats totalled 989.6 miles, which is split into 58 ran-domly selected checkpoints.

If anyone would like any further information about the challenge contact Teresa.Richards@wales.nhs.uk or Stephen.Coleman@wales.nhs.uk

Could you take on the virtual challenge from Land’s End to John O’Groats?